Blogging Basics 101

How We Communicate: FAQs for Beginning Bloggers

I just returned from BlogHer 2008 in San Franciso. I appeared on a panel with four other women called FAQs for Beginning Bloggers. Our panel was flat-out amazing. We met fantastic bloggers and answered many beginner questions. Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time to answer everyone’s questions. I hope to talk to the BlogHer Three (Lisa, Jory, and Elisa) to discuss having this panel again next year and including a Birds of a Feather Room so we can continue our discussions.

Below you will find my notes from my portion of the panel. After each of the presenters (me, Michele Mitchell of Scribbit, Nelly Yusopova of Webgrrls International, and Shazia Mistry of Adventures in Motherhood) gave a short overview of some basic FAQs, we broke into smaller groups discuss platform-specific questions (i.e., TypePad, Blogger, and WordPress).

We have also compiled a Blogging Resources Document (pdf) for you to download.

In addition, you can find Nelly’s notes at WebGrrrls and Michele’s notes at Scribbit.

How do I find basic html resources to help me remember how to do things like strike-thrus etc.?

When I research information for Blogging Basics 101, I start with a Google search of key words. I also go to each of the three main platforms (Blogger, TypePad, and WordPress) and search their help files with those same key words. More often than not, I find what I’m looking for.

The following five sites are excellent resources for all bloggers to refresh your memory on how to do things like strike-throughs or add a button to your sidebar.

• Blogging Basics 101: This site starts from the beginning and walks you through everything from choosing your blog host and choosing a blog name to figuring out how to do a strike-through and customize your sidebars.
• Blogger Buster: Blogger users should have this one in their bookmarks. Everything you want to know and then some about how to manage and customize your Blogger blog.
• Edublogger: This site is specifically written for people who design, develop, and use educational blogs. However, the information spans niches and is valuable to all bloggers. The author uses many screen captures to make instructions especially easy to follow.
• BlogWell: This site offers everything from theory and design articles to HTML and CSS instruction for WordPress. It is targeted to small businesses and non-profits.
• Lorelle on WordPress: As the name suggests, this blog focuses on WordPress.org and WordPress.com blogs and how to take them to the next level. Lorelle provides tips, advice, and techniques for WordPress bloggers.

What are and how do I create permalinks?

A permalink is the link to an individual blog post. These are important because if you ever need to link to an exact blog entry (e.g., for a carnival or an archived post), you use the permalink as your link. It's poor blog etiquette not to use the permalink.

If you don't use the permalink, you'll just be linking to your main blog page. The problem with that is that, as you post new blog entries, the newest entry appears at the top of your main blog page and the other entries are pushed down on the page. The entry your readers are looking for may be down at the bottom of the page or already in the archives; your reader has no idea where to find the entry! If they click over to your site expecting to see a post specific to a carnival and they see a different post, they may not take the time to find the "real" post they're looking for.

You can find the permalink link under any blog entry. However, not all blog hosts/designs handle permalinks the same way.

• Typepad: There's a link that actually says Permalink under the entry.
• Blogger: The link varies. It's usually the time stamp of the post or the title.
• WordPress: Has a link at the bottom of the post named Permalink and/or the title of the post.

What kind of basic sections should I have in my blog?

I take this to mean What should I place in my sidebar? Your sidebar is your list of things you want to keep handy for your readers and for yourself. Your sidebar is offering your readers something in addition to the day’s post. However, too many links in the sidebar can clutter your design and overwhelm your audience. Keep things clean and orderly.

• Recent Posts/Most popular posts/Archives: You don’t need all three. Just choose one of these.
• Categories or Search: I find that search works well for my blogs, because I have a long list of categories. The search takes up less space and is an easy-to-install widget from Widgetbox.
• About Me/E-mail/Contact information: This is your opportunity to explain your blog. E-mail or other contact information should be readily available so your readers (or PR and marketing people) can contact you.
• RSS subscription button: Blogging Basics 101 has an entire section on RSS and installation and you can review Nelly’s notes at WebGrrrls as well.
• Blogroll (if you choose to do one)

Hosted vs. Non-Hosted?

Hosted: A blog that resides on the host’s server (e.g., Blogger or TypePad or WordPress.com).

Non-hosted: A blog that resides on the user’s (yours) server. You pay a third-party to host your blog (e.g., Moveable Type or WordPress.org).

Hosted Pros: Easy to get started because you don’t have to worry about server issues.

Hosted Cons:

• Blogger blogs can appear to be less professional
• Platform limitations (e.g., archiving can be less than user-friendly; TypePad can have issues with comment spam and trackback spam; difficult SEO)
• Less control over HTML and CSS
• WordPress.com does not allow advertising.

Non-Hosted Pros:

• Control over permalinks (articles aren’t randomly named) which can help with SEO
• Control over how archives are managed
• Control over CSS/HTML

Non-Hosted Cons:

• WordPress.org only supports one blog per installation; however, Moveable Type supports multiple blogs per installation.
• Moveable Type isn’t as malleable as WordPress.org.

How do I make a custom header?

• Using GIMP (free to download) to make custom blog banner (via Simply A Musing Blog)
• How to use PhotoShop or PhotoShop Elements to design a custom blog header (via DesignMom) 

To those of you who joined us, thank you! It was a pleasure meeting you. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have additional questions. For those of you who were unable to attend our panel or BlogHer ’08, please follow the links to our Blogging Resources Document and panel notes. I’d love to hear from you if you have questions!

I am cross-posting this at Don't Try This at Home and BlogHer.com.

New Blogger Checklist

Today's Guest Blogger is Karla, who blogs at Looking Towards Heaven, where you can find her writing about the chaos and joy of life with four children. She can also be found at Fruition Designs, where she designs mommy cards, blogs and announcements, and at Blissfully Domestic, where she is the managing editor.

When I started blogging, I jumped, nay, DIVED, right in without looking. I didn't have much of a choice at the time. I started blogging right at the tail end of the wave just before blogging really exploded, and at that time, there wasn't much information on doing it well. You just did it.

Not that there is some manual on how to blog. When it comes down to it, all you need is a blog account on the platform of your choice and then type away.

But if you want to do it well? Now, that is different.

What does it take to do this blogging thing? This thing that everyone is addicted to?

Here is a basic run-down. It is by no means inclusive of every detail, but it is a good solid list to get you off on the right foot.

Decide what and whom you are blogging for.    

{This is also referred to as finding your niche.} Are you blogging to share with family and friends (that is the way most of us got sucked into it)? To make money? To promote your business? Consider this first, because this will help establish the tone and voice of your blog. This can always change. But if it changes drastically (ie: switch from writing about family to mainly promoting your business) you may need to start a new blog altogether.

Think good and plenty about what you'll name that blog and what you'll go by (if you'll use your real name or a nickname).    

You'll be glad you did. For every Bossy and ProBlogger, there are people who are stuck with names that were created at a frat party. It's not always a simple change, if you decide to go by something else. Remember what happened to new Coke? Change confuses people and sometimes irritates.    

And make sure it doesn't just identify that specific time of your life. My First Year of Underwater Basket-Weaving School may be appropriate now. But some day, you may be an underwater-basketweaving school dropout. And then what?

Draft your posts in reader friendly formats.    

If you want people to stick around and read your blog, please please please consider some visual basics. There is more to creating a reader friendly blog than just a nice design. One very simple suggestion is to break your text up into smaller paragraphs. Seriously.    

When a post is written in one long paragraph, only your mom will stick through to the end. And she may have to bandage her eyes after doing so.    

(For info on the design aspect of your blog, see my post on Basic Blog Design Principles.)

Provide a way for readers to contact you.    

Comments only go so far. Sometimes, people may want to contact you and ask something behind the scenes; maybe just a sincere "thank you" for something you wrote. It's just nice to have that available. Create an address dedicated solely to your blog if you are worried about spam.

How will you deal with comments?    

Eventually, you will have more people reading your blog than just your mom or BFF. And when that happens, you'll be glad you have some sort of commenting policy in place. Will you delete comments by trolls? What about people who disagree (vehemently) with a point you've made? Don't wait until something happens to determine what to do.    

Along with this, how will you respond to comments? In the comments? Or via email? Remember, blogging is a lot more fun when you can create a sense of community and be an active participant in it.

Once you get yourself set up and ready to go, enjoy the ride.

Blogging is fun; there is no doubt about it. If it's not fun, consider your reasons for continuing. Or just scratch what you are doing and start all over. You may not be the next blogging rock star. But is that really the only benefit to blogging? It's so much more than that. I've seen blogging open up all sorts of opportunities for people off of their blogs. (hello, HP? Disney?)

For a very thorough article on beginning blogging, be sure to read The Blogging Starter Checklist on Squiddo.

How important is it for my blog name and the URL to be the same (i.e., http://MYTITLE.blogwhatever.com)? Will it be confusing to readers if they don't match?

If you can swing it, it's really best if your blog URL and your blog title match. It will be much easier for your readers to find you. It's quite possible, though, with the boom of new blogs out there, that the blog URL you want is taken. If that's the case, choose a blog URL that is somehow related to your blog content or similar to its title and you'll be just fine.

A few things to consider with choosing your blog URL:

• Length: Whether you are using the URL supplied by your blog host (e.g., donttrythisathome.typepad.com) or a domain name (www.donttryit.com) choose something that is easy to type and easy to remember. You don't want your readers to have to type in wowthisisareallyfantasticunbeleivableblogyoullloveit.blogspot.com. They will probably fall asleep or find something shiny before they get to the end.
• Relativity: If you can't get the same URL as the name of your blog, at least try to get something that's related to your blog. For example, I used to have a blog at Blogger and it's URL was chilihead2.blogspot.com. "Chilihead" is my nickname in the blogosphere so it made sense and related to my blog.
• Feedreaders: Remember, most of your devoted readers will be reading you through a feedreader (e.g., Bloglines or Google Reader). They may not even know your actual URL.

How do I add a link to my archives on Blogger?

This is a great question for a Friday. It's easy to answer and easy to implement.

1. Log in to Blogger.
2. Go to Layout > Template > Page Elements.
3. Click Add a Page Element.
4. Scroll down until you see Blog Archives and click the Add to Blog button under it.
5. Click Save.

That's it. No kidding. You're a rock star.

If you want to customize how your archives are shown just click the Edit link on your Blog Archive page element. You'll see a whole slew of stuff you can play with.

Is Wordpress.org a good choice for someone who doesn't know html, css, php, plug-ins and ftp? Someone who wants to concentrate mostly on the content? Or should I choose another blogging platform instead?

WordPress is a fantastic platform. Many of the serious bloggers out there will tell you it's the be-all, end-all professional platform. I haven't used it, but I know many people who do and I respect their opinions greatly. I may switch from Typepad to WordPress at some point myself.

Having said that, my initial supposition is that you do need to be familiar with HTML, CSS, plug-ins, etc. to make the most of WordPress. If you are a beginner blogger with no knowledge of these things and are mostly content driven, I suggest you start with Blogger. It's free and it's very simple to set up. As you become more familiar with customizing your blog, you may choose to move over to WordPress.

What do you WordPress users say?

When I view my Blogger blog I see on my side bar little tools on each item I've added to the template. Is this something I can get rid of?

Don't worry, your readers can't see the tools that show up when you look at your site. The tools show up because you are logged in to Blogger and it recognizes that you are the owner of the site. The tools are there so you can easily click and edit. Readers who aren't you won't see the tools. If you'd like to see your site without those tools, log out and type in the address of your blog. They should be gone.

I would like to add a blog roll to my site, will you please post step-by-step instructions on doing this?

Before you begin making your blog roll, it may be helpful to type up a list of the blog names (and their URLs) you want to include.

Blogger:

1. Sign in to your Blogger account and click on Layout.
2. On the Template tab choose Page Elements.
3. On your sidebar click Add a Page Element.
4. Find the Link List option and click Add to Blog.
5. In the Title field type Blog Roll (or whatever you'd like the list to be called).
6. In the New Site URL box type in the URL of the site you want to include in your blog roll (e.g., http://www.bloggingbasics101.com).
7. In the New Site Name box type the title of the blog you are including (e.g., Blogging Basics 101).
8. Click Add Link.
9. You can continue to add more blog links to your list by repeating steps 6-8.
10. When you have finished adding all the blogs to your blog roll click Save Changes.

Typepad:

1. Log in to your Typepad account and click on Weblogs.
2. Click on the Typelists tab.
3. Create a new Links list and name it what you'd like your blog roll to be called.
4. In the Title field type the name of the blog you are including in your list.
5. In the URL field type the URL of that blog.
6. Click Save.
7. To add another blog to the list click Add Item and repeat steps 4-6.
8. When all the blogs you want to include have been added to your list click the Publish tab.
9. Choose which blog(s) you want your blog roll to appear on and click Save Changes. The new Typelist will appear on your blog's sidebar. You can use

Weblogs > Design > Current Design > Order Content

to change the placement of your blog roll on your sidebar.

WordPress:

(These instructions provided by Jordan at Momma Blogga.)

1. Sign in to your WordPress.com account and click on Blogroll.
2. Select the Add Link tab.
3. In the Name field, type the name of the blog or blogger (Blogging Basics 101).
4. In the Address field, type the URL of the blog (http://www.bloggingbasics101.com/).
5. In the Description field, if desired, type a brief description of the blog ("help for bloggers" or "blogging for beginners").
6. Click Add Link to add the link to your blogroll.

WordPress extras:

• To rename your blogroll, go to Manage > Categories.  Click Edit on the Blogroll line.  Type the new name in the Category name field; click Edit Category to save it.
• To edit or delete blogs on your blogroll, go to Blogroll > Manage Blogroll.  Click Edit or Delete, to edit or delete, or use the check boxes and Delete Checked Links button to delete multiple blogs.
• If you wanted to add all the blogs from your feed reader to your blogroll, you can save your blogs in your feed reader as an OPML file on your computer and go to Blogroll > Import Links to import them all.
• To have multiple blogroll categories (for example, a "Favorite Knitting Blogs" and a "Favorite Mommy Blogs" list), create a new category under Manage > Categories.  Then go back to Blogroll > Add Link and check the box next to your new category in the box on the right side.

I bought a domain name for my blog. Now what?

Many bloggers are unhappy with the myblog.typepad.com or myblog.blogger.com addresses they are assigned. It's just more professional to have the myblog.com, myblog.net, or myblog.org URL instead. These URLs are called domain names. Once you've purchased your domain name, though, you need to map it to your existing site so when a reader types in your domain name they'll be directed to your existing blog.

Typepad users have incredibly thorough instructions via the Typepad Knowledge Base. Do a search for domain mapping.

Blogger users, here are your instructions directly from Blogger on how to use your domain name with your Blogger blog.

WordPress users also have great instructions from the WordPress FAQ on how to accomplish domain mapping.

User Feedback: Wordpress is Nice

Today is Wordpress day. Our guest blogger is Kathryn from Daring Young Mom. She rocks. You'll soon see why (if you are the last person on earth not reading her blog, that is).

I switched from Blogger to Wordpress in August of 2006, almost one year after I started blogging. Blogger was currently experiencing a lot of down time, I wanted to start hosting a blog from my own domain, www.daringyoungmom.com, rather than www.daringyoungmom.somethingelse.com, and I felt like I had outgrown Blogger.

I wanted more options, options I didn’t even know I wanted and Blogger could not read my mind. I told Dan (my husband and resident computer programmer) that I wanted to switch to TypePad and he began researching. He read everything there was to read about the different platforms and their strengths and weaknesses. Then he presented a well-documented case that Wordpress was the clear winner for me long term. I nodded and smiled and have not regretted the decision for a moment.

Here’s why I heart Wordpress:

1.  Customizable – I have complete control over the look and feel of my site. If you enjoy tinkering around with the code on your site, you’ll love that you have total access to your Wordpress blog template.

2. Versatility – It’s open source so not only can you change things around, but everyone and their dog online is creating plug-ins and upgrades you can use on your site. Some are super-useful like amazingly effective spam filters and some are just fun like the Hello Dolly plug-in, which displays a different line from the song Hello Dolly each time you switch administration screens. “You’re lookin’ swell fellas!” There are hundreds of different plug-ins you can get to solve just about any problem you’re having, even boredom apparently. I’m still looking for one that will dispense ice cream to all of my readers.

3. Idiot Proof – after a small learning curve, I’ve found the software easy to use. The technology does not get in the way of the functionality. It is super user friendly. It’s very easy to moderate comments, set permissions, respond to comments and even edit them if, for example, your sister uses your daughter’s real name in a comment she leaves you.

4. Supportive – There are amazing forums for help on nearly every topic. I have used them to do all kinds of cool modifications to the HTML, CSS, and PHP code in my blog, things someone with my level of knowledge should probably never be messing with. Luckily the forums are so well organized and clearly written that I felt confident experimenting beyond where I would have been comfortable in Blogger.

5. Geek Chic – It seems that Wordpress is the current golden child among the techie elite and it makes me feel like I’ve been promoted to the grownups’ table.

Wordpress software is freely available at wordpress.ORG but you need to find and pay for a web host and a domain name (Most hosting companies offer a free domain name with hosting service. I pay $50 per year for my hosting and several companies are listed on Wordpress.org.)

You can also use Wordpress software for free at wordpress.COM but your storage space and customizability are limited and your URL will be yoursitename.wordpress.com. If you’d like to upgrade your storage or add features, you have several different levels for payment options.

User Feedback: Typepad

Our guest poster today is none other than Antique Mommy. Yep, that's right. We know her. Eat your hearts out.

This is what she has to say about TypePad:

I started out with BlogSpot (or Blogger) in July of 2005 and made the switch to TypePad about a year ago. Blogger provided everything a blogger could want and it was free, but at the time, they were having a lot of down time and service problems and I became frustrated and made the jump to TypePad.

TypePad is not a free service, but you can get basic service for about $5 a month, which is a pretty cheap hobby – much cheaper than my former hobby, shoe shopping. And, anytime I’ve had a problem I’ve gotten a quick response to my help ticket.

What I don’t like about TypePad:

•  You have to go several pages deep to locate the permalink for a post (much easier with Blogger)
• I can’t change the font size easily within the post (which I could also do at Blogger).
•  I can’t play around with picture placement in the post (easily)
• They don’t have that many standard templates to choose from. I remember Blogger having quite a few. And I found that it was a lot easier for a novice like me to play with the template at Blogger. Not so at TypePad.

What I do like about TypPad:

• I can ban an IP address if I have an unruly commenter.
• I can assign a category to my posts (even though I don’t)
• Lots of reports they provide that I never look at.

I’m sure TypePad has many more bells and whistles, but I just haven’t had the time to find them.

In the year that I’ve been with Typepad, their service has been steady and reliable and if you don’t mind spending the money, I would recommend it. However, for basic blogging, I don’t think you can go wrong with Blogger either. If it hadn’t been for service issues, I’d still be with Blogger.